Learn all about Venetia Village zoning designations in Peters Township
Wright’s United Methodist Church is hosting a Jan. 24 meeting to address Peters Township zoning regulations in the Village of Venetia.
The roots of Hackett, in Peters Township’s southeastern corner, extend back deep into the 19th century.
For ministers, it’s often a case of have Bible, will travel: They fulfill their assignments, wherever the church may be.
“We never know how long we’re going to stay,” said the Rev. Richard Roberts, pastor of Wright’s United Methodist Church. “But my intention would be, I could live here and retire here. That means I’m invested in the community.”
Roberts, who arrived at the Peters Township congregation from Sharon four years ago, always asks himself when he draws a new assignment:”What’s the uniqueness of every community you go to? And the uniqueness here is the Village.”
Compared with the upscale residential neighborhoods that have come to dominate Peters, the southeastern corner of the township is markedly different. Older, more compact homes in the section known as Hackett are in close proximity along Venetia Road to the likes of a store, restaurant, post office, community center and museum.
Recognizing the area’s potential, Roberts organized what has become an annual event, Christmas at the Village of Venetia, uniting local resources to showcase what each has to offer, with his church serving as but one of the focal points.
“I don’t ever want to make it a typical United Methodist event, because I don’t want to exclude anybody,” he said. “So that’s why I coined the ‘Village of Venetia.'”
The term is poised to take on official meaning within the context of Peters Township zoning guidelines.
At 7 p.m. Jan. 24, Wright’s United Methodist Church will host a public stakeholder-focus group meeting at which township planning staff members will discuss proposed regulations for the Venetia Village Zoning District.
Stretching along Venetia Road from near the intersection with Bebout Road to the township line, the applicable area actually is to be divided into three districts:
• VR: Venetia Village Residential, primarily covering Hackett. Key elements include giving priority to pedestrian movement and establishing a street circulation system that provides safe, convenient access while discouraging traffic that is incompatible with a residential neighborhood.
• VM: Venetia Village Mixed-Use Neighborhood, along the northern side of Venetia Road. Combining residential, commercial and office land uses, the district also is designed to provide services for surrounding neighborhoods
• VC: Venetia Village Neighborhood Commercial, to the south of Venetia Road, which also is to include limited, mostly existing residential development.
”Venetia is an area where we’re putting in some zoning regulations that we hope will help maybe spur some development and reinvestment in that area,” Ed Zuk, township planning director, said. “The types of zoning regulations that we are proposing are keeping in character with how that area has developed.”
He acknowledges its potential.
“The thing that needs to happen for the commercial part to develop is some more rooftops,” he said. “As we see more homes being developed and built in this area, then I think the commercial part will come alive.”
Zuk credits Roberts with providing input in the process of drafting the regulations and offering his church for the site of the Jan. 24 meeting.
“He’s been very gracious,” Zuk said, “and he’s a promoter of that area.”
The planning department also has scheduled public meetings for the next two evenings, both at the municipal building, to address two other proposed zoning districts applying to other parts of Peters.
Together, the new districts represent action toward implementing aspects of the township’s comprehensive plan, as adopted in 2013 with substantial feedback from residents.
“We’re hearing that people want to walk,” Zuk explained. “They want to walk from their neighborhood to a restaurant or to a church. We’re trying to build that walkability and connectivity by creating these commercial areas in close proximity to residential areas.”
He encouraged continued public participation.
“In 2016, when we adopted the residential parts of the comprehensive plan, we found that involving the landowners and surrounding landowners made everyone aware of what was going on, and we gained valuable input from their perspective,” he said. “We’ve made revisions and incorporated changes based on our meetings.”
Following the series of meetings, the planning staff will make applicable revisions and present the new regulations to the township planning commission, which in turn would recommend adoption by council, probably in the spring.
Around that time, the Village of Venetia plans a celebration marking the longevity of three institutions within walking distance of one another: the Venetia Community Center, built as Venetia School in 1926; Wright’s Church, which started as a congregation in 1854; and the Enoch Wright House and Museum of Westward Expansion, on which construction started all the way back in 1815.
Peters Township newbies, take note.